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Marine Mosaic
Brief Identification This Marine Mosaic was excavated during the 1937-39 Princeton University Expedition (Stillwell, 50). The floor mosaic was created around 200-230 AD and it served as a central portion of three panels decorating and serving as a portion of a floor in the courtyard of the “House of the Drinking Contest” in the former port city of Antioch in Selucia under the Roman Empire (Stillwell, 50). The mosaic has been sold to several Museums and currently resides in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston). Technical Evaluation Because the Marine Mosaic was a part of the floor it was made of durable and fairly non-expensive materials, such as denser glass and stone, as it was constructed to be walked upon. The mosaic is comprised of tesserae or small cut stones created for the purpose of mosaic works (L’Orange, Nordhagen, 34). The technique used for this mosaic is known as “opus vermiculatum.” Opus vermiculatum is when an artist achieves shading in a mosaic by using meticulously placed and colored tesserae or glass to create graduations of color (L’ Orange, Nordhagen, 8). The stone tesserae and the glass were cut with iron blades then hand placed and secured within plaster to create the image and overall form of the Marine Mosaic (L’Orange, Nordhagen, 56). Afterwards the mosaic was rubbed smooth then polished in order to create an even service for the floor (L’Orangem Nordhagen, 8). There is no evidence to conclude that this technology was advanced for its place and time as the work was meticulously done and was time consuming; however, it is clear that there were teams of people working on mosaics with specialized roles within the process though it is unclear how this specialization was organized (L’Orange, Nordhagen, 57). In modern times this artifact can be found in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston). Before entering this museum collection the Marine Mosaic was originally found in the port city of Antioch in modern day Samandag and was then excavated during the 1937-39 Princeton University Expedition (Stillwell, 50). After the excavation the mosaic was moved to the Dumbarton Oaks Byzantine Collection until 2002 when it was then purchased by the Museum of Fine Arts Boston where it is now on display in gallery 214A (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston). Local Historical Context Although mosaics originated in eastern Mediterranean culture, including Antioch, this particular Marine Mosaic was inspired by the Roman interpretation of the Hellenistic art. This particular mosaic takes into account the Greecian borders around the central panel of a complex piece; however, due to the approximate time period, the small size of the tesserae and the incorporation of glass, it is clear that this artifact was created under or for the Roman Empire (L’Orange, Nordhagen, 35). Furthermore, due to the trends of other floor mosaics of the time, one can conclude that this artifact was likely created by a Greek artist in the Roman Empire (L’Orange, Nordhagen ,36). However, the technique and organization has significant Roman influence and was created for a Roman port; therefore, the Marine Mosaic artifact itself is indeed Roman. The artifact’s makers were likely a team of individuals, some of which were highly skilled artists categorized as pictores imaginarri or ‘''mosaic painters’ and the other workers with specialized purpose within the processed called ''musearii '' or ‘mosaic workers’ (L’Orange, Nordhagen, 55). These individuals were likely commission by the recipient as the artifact was found in a private home in Antioch as this was common practice, however there is no substantial evidence to confirm this conclusion. Despite the high level of skill necessary, according to Diocletian’s price fixing edict of 301 CE, the wages of these mosaic artists were significantly lower in comparison to others associated with visual arts (Cimok,17). During the timeframe that the Marine Mosaic was created, around 200-230 AD, the Roman Empire was in the Imperial Period under the rule of the Severanes and other emperors that were formally high ranking military generals (Department of Greek and Roman Art). Th Founder of this dynasty was Septimius Severus. Severus and the emperors after him within the Imperial Period merged the identities of Italians and provincials and allowed the Roman Empire to spread and conquer new lands to adopt into the redefined culture (Department of Greek and Roman Art). These emperors, within this time period, obtained their authority through the loyalty of their soldiers and means of a military dictatorship (Department of Greek and Roman Art). Within the local culture the Marine Mosaic and all mosaics were seen as a symbol of high social status. Mosaics within this timeframe were frequently created as gifts to bring extravagance as mosaics are tedious to make and in some cases contained expensive materials (L’Orange, Nordhagen, 35). Specifically, marine mosaics were popular in the Imperial Period as they typically accompanied the image of the sea-god Oceanus who was typically surrounded by cupids (L’Orange, Nordhagen, 39). Therefore, the Marine Mosaic had a religious background as well as it could have been based on the sea-god’s entourage. World Significance The artifact served as an artistic transition from the style of the Hellenistic Age to the style of the Imperial Roman Period as there was a transformation from three dimensional works of art to mosaics and other two dimensional pieces. Generally, mosaic creation increased after the Hellenistic Age as the Greek culture transformed into the Roman Empire. During the Hellenistic Age, Greek ideas spread across Europe and Asia through trade and the conquests of Alexander the Great; furthermore, when the Roman Empire came into power Hellenistic ideas lived within its cultural structure. The human-like figures presented in the Marine Mosaic are likely cupids and are representations of different types of Hellenistic love presented in Roman culture such as romance and seduction. The cupid angels are of the Roman Empire despite being based off of the Hellenistic erotes that are depicted in older sculptures and paintings, thus the mosaic reflects a larger religious trend within world history. In Roman Mythology, the cupids derive from Venus who is the goddess of love, sex, beauty, and fertility (Garcia). This mosaic was created around 200-230 AD which was shortly after a time in the Ancient Roman Empire when there was a great cult following of Venus and an overall fascination with her cupids. After being integrated within the Roman way of life the cultural symbol spread through trade in the Hellenistic Age and was incorporated into the daily lives of other regions within the Roman Empire including the port city where the Marine Mosaic was found in Antioch (Downey, 363). This spread and prominence of Hellenistic Culture is seen within the Marine Mosaic as Antioch that was thousands of miles from Rome but under the Roman Empire. The mosaic presents the new idea of two dimensional art in the Roman Empire while also stating that the owner of the mosaic has a higher social status (L’Orange, Nordhagen, 7). The mosaic shows a means of high social status because the physical rooms themselves were art, as the mosaics are installed within the structure of the building, instead of merely holding art (L’Orange, Nordhagen, 3-4). The Marine Mosaic itself is unique because it combines the fascination with monochromatic black and white tesserae, within the background of the mosaic, from the late Hellenistic Age and Early Roman Empire with the more impressionistic, colorful, yet subtle style of Imperial Roman Period (L’ Orange, Nordhagen, 12). After the Imperial period, Mosaics were adopted into the Christian Roman Empire and used to depict sacred imaged as the prominent religion of the Roman Empire became Christianity as the church was politically supported by Constantine. Bibliography Cartwright, Mark. “Roman Mosaics.” ''Ancient History Encyclopedia, Ancient History Encyclopedia, 2 Nov. 2018, www.ancient.eu/article/498/roman-mosaics/. Cimok, Fatih. Antioch Mosaics: a Corpus. A Turizm Yayinlari, 2000. Department of Greek and Roman Art. “The Roman Empire.” The Met's Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Oct. 2000, www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/ roem/hd_roem.htm. Downey, Glanville. “Personifications of Abstract Ideas in the Antioch Mosaics.” JSTOR, The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1938, www-jstor-org.proxy- remote.galib.uga.edu/stable/283184?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents. Garcia, Brittany. “Venus.” Ancient History Encyclopedia, Ancient History Encyclopedia, 3 Nov. 2018, www.ancient.eu/venus/. L'Orange, Hans Peter, and Per Jonas. Nordhagen. Mosaics. Methuen, 1966. “Marine Mosaic (Central Panel of Three Panels from a Floor).” Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 5 June 2017, www.mfa.org/collections/ object/marine-mosaic-central-panel-of-three-panels-from-a-floor-359049. Rautmann, M., et al. “Antioch.” UGA Libraries Off-Campus Login, Oxford University Press , 22 Sept. 2015, www.oxfordartonline.com.proxy-remote.galib.uga.edu/ groveart/view/10.1093/gao/9781884446054.001.0001/oao-9781884446054- e-7000003223?rskey=yRjO6a&result=1. Rowell, Christopher. “Floors.” UGA Libraries Off-Campus Login, Oxford University Press , 2018, doi-org.proxy-remote.galib.uga.edu/10.1093/gao/ 9781884446054.article.T2060567. Stillwell, Richard. “Houses of Antioch.” Dumbarton Oaks Papers, vol. 15, 1961, pp. 45– 47-57. Category:Roman Empire Category:Mosaic Category:Architecture